


Even A Bad Big Brother Can Care

by Elenhin



Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Gen, the mom thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 12:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1225729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenhin/pseuds/Elenhin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even a bad big brother can care, even a shitty big brother can be the best big brother. </p>
<p>Anders is a bad big brother, even a shitty one, but he cares. He cares very much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even A Bad Big Brother Can Care

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpyderzW3b](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpyderzW3b/gifts).



> For SpyderzW3b, 
> 
> A welcoming gift to you, for joining us here. :D For being so welcoming to me. I hope you enjoy this, and I told you that Anders makes for a pretty good parent, now, this should really prove it. :D 
> 
> Take care, *hugs* Elenhin

_**Even A Bad Big Brother Can Care** _

 

Axl exchanged looks with Ty as they entered the room, they could already hear Mike and Anders argue.

 

“That fucking idiot,” Ty sighed. In his mind there was no doubt who was responsible for the argument. Anders was a selfish prick and Mike had been getting more and more tired of his attitude.

 

“Why can’t they just get along?” Axl muttered. “This is stupid.”

 

“Yeah, well Anders never was as smart as he thinks he is,” Ty snorted. He really wished that his brother would just give it a rest. He was just as sick of his brothers arguing and wasn’t minded to listen to Axl whining about it. Hopefully Mike would sort him out and they wouldn’t see him for a couple of days. Axl though apparently had other plans and hurried forward, entering the kitchen.

 

His two oldest brothers broke off when he entered the room but both still stood scowling at each other.

 

“What’s going on?” Axl wanted to know.

 

“Stay out of it,” Anders half snapped and Axl bit his lip.

 

“Hey, this is about you and the stupid shit you always do, so don’t take it out on Axl!” Mike snapped back.

 

“Oh yeah, and you’re so fucking perfect,” Anders snarled. “You always were, weren’t you Mike, just perfect, huh?”

 

“Why don’t you two just stop arguing?” Axl frowned. He hated the arguments. It always made him worried that maybe Anders didn’t care about them at all and was just waiting for a chance to leave them.

 

“You’re hardly even wiping your own nose yet, so don’t lecture me,” Anders spun around to face him. Sarcasm was heavy in his voice and Mike’s hand shot forward to grab his arm and throw him back.

 

“Leave him alone!” Mike snapped. “You’ve only yourself to blame for this, so don’t take it out on him.”

 

Anders pulled free and stalked away a few steps, scowling at them.

 

“What’s up Axl?” Mike took a deep breath to calm himself.

 

“You said we’d all get together tonight for some beer and burgers,” Axl mumbled. “Have some fun.”

 

“Shit, I forgot all about it,” rubbing a tired hand over his face Mike sighed. “Sorry Axl, but I had to clean up the mess your dick of a brother made.”

 

“Well, we can still do it, can’t we?” he pleaded. “I’ve been looking forward to it all week.”

 

“Sure,” Mike gave in. He was still mad as hell at Anders, but he wouldn’t let Axl suffer for it, and having to be there for it might even serve as punishment for Anders since he couldn’t stand to let down Axl either.

 

“Kewl,” Axl grinned happily, looking between them.

 

“You’ll have to take Anders with you and pick some stuff up though,” he decided. That would give them both a chance to cool down. Not to mention that since he had forgotten about it they really did need someone to pick it up.

 

“Hey!” Anders started to object and Mike rounded up on him.

 

“Don’t even start!” he snapped. “Just shut up and do what I tell you.”

 

“You can’t order me around Mike!” Anders growled and Axl grabbed him by the arm.

 

“Come on Anders, let’s just go get the stuff, I’ve been looking forward to this. Come on now,” he half pleaded and Anders took a deep breath.

 

“Fine, I’ll go along,” he gave in. “But he’s not ordering me to do anything, I do it because I want to, got it?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Axl nodded eagerly as Anders started outside. Mike gave him a list and then he had to hurry to catch up with Anders. His brother had already slipped in behind the wheel of his car and was now waiting impatiently for Axl to get in.

 

“Why do you and Mike always argue?” Axl asked carefully as he fastened the seatbelt.

 

“Don’t,” Anders breathed tiredly. “Just don’t Axl, I’ve been listening to Mike telling me what a shitty brother I am to all of you, and I’m not gonna listen to you going on about how he only wants my best really. Mike wants me to be a little copy of him, the good little boy. The sooner he figures that I’m not, the better it’ll be for everyone.”

 

“Just think it’s a shame,” Axl mused. “I’ve really been looking forward to this.”

 

“Yeah, whatever,” Anders turned his attention back to the road. He was quiet and somewhat sullen as they took care of the shopping, but when Axl had gathered everything on the list he paid for it. The way Axl could tell he was still mad was that he did not even attempt to flirt with the cashier, and she was pretty.

 

“I’m not gonna hang around,” he stated suddenly and Axl sighed.

“You don’t have to talk to Mike,” he decided. “Please Anders.”

 

“Lot of fun that’ll be,” Anders snorted. “He’s still pissed I bet you, and I’ve had enough of him. Better have him mad I’m not there than have to listen to how everything I do is wrong.”

 

Axl was about to plead with him as Anders pulled out into an intersection just as a car in the crossing lane ran the red light. Anders hit the break so that the car skidded, throwing out his arm across Axl’s chest even though his younger brother was wearing the seatbelt. The skid brought them against the pavement and Axl felt the jerk as the tight belt around his body prevented him from being thrown sideways.

 

“Wow,” he breathed when he realized they were standing still. Anders still had his arm against him and sat swallowing hard behind the wheel.

 

“You okay?” he breathed.

 

“Yeah, sure,” Axl nodded. “That was close.”

 

“Yeah, fucking idiot!” Anders cursed, taking a deep breath and looking around. A few other cars had been forced to break just as sharply and there was a heavy smell of burnt rubber in the air. He pulled the car into reverse so that he could get back into the lane while a few others performed similar manoeuvres. No one had wrecked and no one appeared to be hurt so everyone were just slowly starting back on their own way. All of them likely cursing the idiot who’d run the light.

  
Axl glanced over his shoulder and saw how the groceries littered the backseat and the floor. He marvelled as he realized that the hamburger buns had been thrown clear to the front and tossed them back over his shoulder with a shrug.

 

Anders rubbed at the side of his face and Axl frowned as he looked closer at him. There were a few small cuts on the right side of his face, trickling a tiny stream of blood that he absently wiped away with the back of his hand. It looked as if he had struck the window or the doorframe, Axl wasn’t sure, but he had a red swelling on his cheekbone that would probably develop into a nice bruise. He hadn’t thought about it before, but now he realized Anders wasn’t wearing his seatbelt.

 

“Maybe you ought to buckle up,” he stated carefully. “I mean, just in case there’s another idiot like that.”

 

Anders snorted as he glanced his way, but he pulled the seatbelt across and latched it. The last thing he needed was for Axl to go tell Mike how he was stupid and careless. His face was painful but the tiny amount of blood on his hand as he wiped it away was nothing to worry about. “If you tell Mike that one was my fault, you’re dead,” he told him instead.

 

“Why would I do that?” Axl frowned. “It was that dick who ran the red light. Could’ve caused a real wreck.”

 

“Yeah, well just make sure you tell him that, because I’m not taking any shit from the perfect big brother. You’d better get that straight right now.” He would have preferred it if Mike didn’t even know, but the mess in the backseat that had previously been two bags of groceries rather made it impossible to keep it from him.

 

They gathered the mess up, tidying it as much as they could. Anders scooped tomatoes and lettuce back into one of the bags and hefted it. He could hear something rattle that shouldn’t be rattling and sighed. No doubt Mike would blame him for it. Something was broken in the bag so as soon as he dropped it on the counter he dug his hand into it to find out what. It probably wasn’t a good idea, something he realized when he cut himself on the glass. Dumping it out on the counter he saw it was the jar of pickled relish that had broken and he cursed as the mess was now just about everywhere on the countertop as well.

 

“Anders, what the hell?” Mike frowned as he entered.

 

“Just shut the fuck up,” Anders stalked out, leaving the mess on the countertop and heading outside. His palm was bleeding and he had a slight headache from hitting the side-window so he didn’t care if Mike was upset.

 

“Some jerk ran a red light,” Axl told Mike while his older brother glared after the blond. “He had to hit the break. And everything went flying. But it wasn’t his fault Mike, and if he hadn’t reacted so fast we might have crashed.”

 

“You okay?” Mike suddenly found his anger replaced with concern, particularly for Axl, but for Anders too.

 

“Yeah,” he nodded. “But it was hairy, I think Anders was a bit rattled, and he was telling me not to tell you it was his fault. I guess he figures you’ll blame him. But we had the green light, he couldn’t know some idiot would do that.”

 

“No,” Mike threw the broken jar of relish away, grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge. It hadn’t been Anders’ fault and since he really had jumped to conclusions it was his duty to make the peace offering.

 

Stepping outside he walked over to Anders and held one of the beers out to him, Anders glared at it, then at him.

 

“Axl told me,” Mike shrugged.

 

“Figured, or you’d be screaming at me like usual,” Anders muttered. “Don’t do me any favours, you wouldn’t listen to me so why care what he said?”

 

“I’ll give you that one,” Mike proffered the beer again and this time Anders took it. Mike frowned as he saw the darkening bruise on his cheek, and the cut on his palm. “You need a Band-Aid?” he asked nodding to his palm.

 

“Too pissed to care if I do,” Anders admitted with surprising honesty and Mike figured that meant he really had been rattled by the near wreck.

 

“Fair enough,” Mike gave a small grin as Axl came out to join them with Ty in tow. “We can sort that out later.”

 

“Figured you’d be blaming me for getting Axl killed,” Anders muttered. He drained about half the bottle before he lowered it, then held the still cold bottle to his smarting cheek. The chill there felt good.

 

“Believe it or not, I don’t want you to get yourself killed either,” Mike decided. “Axl is just worse because well, if he goes we are all screwed.”

 

“Yeah,” to his surprise Anders gave a chuckle.

 

“You take it easy a bit and Ty and me will get the food started,” Mike decided. “It looks like you hit something, and Ty’s a better cook than you anyway.”

 

“Yeah,” again Anders grinned. “Because he’s gay.”

 

“You didn’t get a whack like that?” Mike asked Axl.

 

“No,” he shook his head. “But I had my seat belt on, and anyway, Anders did the mom thing. I think that’s why he hit the side. We weren’t going all that fast, but since he did it instead of catching himself he got a good whack.”

 

“’The mom thing’?” Ty grinned. “Anders?”

 

“Yeah,” Axl nodded eagerly. “He did the mom thing you know, throwing out his arm and catching me,” he demonstrated, throwing his arm wide and Mike burst out laughing as he hit Anders right in the face. “Oups, sorry,” Axl winced.

 

Anders glared at him as he clutched a hand to his now bleeding nose and glared at his baby brother. Ty had to chuckle as he realized that Anders was now likely to have a matching bruise on his other cheek. Mike was still laughing and Axl looked a little worried, he probably thought that Anders would be mad at him but Mike thought he looked more tired. He’d found a handkerchief in his pocket and wiped the blood from his nose.

 

“Good job Anders has a better aim than you,” he grinned.

 

“Though he wouldn’t hit you in the face,” Ty added. He grinned and held out his hand at about waist height.

 

“I didn’t even know you knew ‘the mom thing’,” Mike mused, winking at Anders.

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Anders scowled at him as he drained his beer. “Don’t know why I did though, stupid prick hit me.”

 

“You’ll live,” Mike grinned. He could tell Anders wasn’t more mad than that he could stand for a bit of a teasing.

 

“I didn’t mean to,” Axl defended himself. “And uh, I’m sorry?” he added, giving a goofy smile as he hoped his older brother would forgive him.

 

“Whatever,” Anders put his empty bottle down.

 

“Ty, about time we got started on the food,” Mike decided. He was still chuckling happily and in another minute Anders might decide to take it personally. “I’ll get you a Band-Aid Anders, looks like you need another one now,” he grinned teasingly.

 

“And, uh, thanks,” Axl started. “Sorry you hit the window because you saved me.”

 

Anders waved it away, “just because Mike and Ty likes to say what a shitty big brother I am don’t mean I don’t care,” he muttered. Clearly not happy about the topic of conversation. That made Axl grin, he knew that Anders cared. He knew he cared about all of them but he knew that Anders had a hard time both saying and showing it. He couldn’t make a deliberate show of his feelings anymore than he could put them in words, which was really weird for the God of poetry. It was in his reactions, in his instincts. The way he threw out his arm to catch you and didn’t care if he couldn’t catch himself. He remembered he had done the same thing when he was just a kid and Anders had to drive him places. Back then he had taken it for granted.

 

“I know you do,” he grinned.

 

Anders gave an amused snort as Mike came back, giving the bundle he carried a suspicious look.

 

“Here, clean off,” Mike tossed him a wet towel and Anders wiped his face as well as his hands.

 

“Now take that shirt off, it’s got blood on it,” Mike pointed out and Anders cursed as he realized he was right. Blood would be a bitch to get out too. He pulled it off, balled it up and threw it aside to be dealt with later. To his surprise Mike passed him a t-shirt.

 

“Too small for me really, should fit you pretty okay,” Mike grinned.

 

“Thanks,” Anders pulled it on and was glad that for once he could borrow clothes from Mike without looking like he was a kid dressing up. Then Mike just had to take his hand and put on the Band-Aid on the cut from the broken jar, as if he couldn’t do it himself. He left the small cuts on his face as they would heal faster if left open to air. There wasn’t the same risk of infection either as it was on his hand.

 

“Alright, I’m gonna help Ty now,” he decided when he was done, picking up Anders’ discarded shirt. If they put it to soak the blood should come out okay.

 

“So, we’re okay?” Axl asked nervously as he settled to wait beside Anders.

 

“Yeah sure, whatever,” his older brother shrugged. “One condition,” he added as an afterthought.

 

“Sure, eh, what?” Axl hoped it wasn’t anything hard, or something that would make Mike mad again.

 

“Get me another beer,” he grinned as he stretched out in one of the lawn chairs.

 

“Sure,” Axl grinned happily as he went to fetch it. It could be hard to tell at times, but for a bad big brother Anders could be a really good big brother.

  
**The End**

 

Please comment, the Cricket is hungry....


End file.
